Education Students Create Plagiarism Awareness

The Education Library is currently the host of artworks showcasing the topic of plagiarism versus anti-plagiarism. These artworks were created by the 2023 second-year art students (BEd) at the Faculty of Education.

The exhibition is seen as a wonderful opportunity in support of the responsibility of the DLS, to create awareness and give training to the University of Pretoria Community on anti-plagiarism. UP realises plagiarism’s impact on the global academic environment and understands that it can get much worse if we refrain from acting with academic integrity. This is in support of our Plagiarism Prevention Policy.

The group of students grabbed the opportunity to creatively showcase the topic. The students were asked to create artwork resembling fake items to imitate plagiarism. Students were given the opportunity to use their material of choice to create the artwork. The outcome was various artworks in both 3D format and poster format.

Champion Black & White versus Carling Black Label - poster format artwork. 

Stoner and Spirite versus Stoney and Sprite - 3D format artwork.

Dr Raita Steyn, the lecturer for the group, indicated: “The goal of this assignment was to educate students about the importance of ethical behaviour and to caution them against engaging in plagiarism. Although plagiarism is typically associated with academic writing, students were informed that it can also involve creating counterfeit products that infringe on someone else's brand name without their permission. This exercise also encouraged students to think critically about their own academic integrity and how they can avoid plagiarism in the future.”

The exhibition was planned to be available at the start of the second semester.

The Education Library is using the exhibition to promote the training opportunities presented by the Department of Library Services and to advertise the self-paced workshops available via Blackboard. Furthermore, books from the library’s collection on academic writing were utilized in support of the exhibition. Included were books on how to become an academic writer, academic language and academic literacy. Several published sources were also identified and added to confirm credibility. These sources included topics on academic dishonesty, ChatGPT, plagiarism implications and the role of ChatGPT in the classroom.

Visiting students’ reactions to the artworks were astonishing. Reactions showed a clear understanding with smiles, giggles and discussion amongst them. On the other hand, some students did need some guidance when interpreting the artwork. The success achieved by the group of students through the assignment gave an innovative and visually successful opportunity to create awareness on the topic of plagiarism and is used with great success.

Student artists: Ashley Antill, Hannah van Rij, Erique Holtzhausen, Annebelle Visser, Thabiso Buthelezi, Tiyiselani Hlungwani,Simphiwe Mahlangu, Pheletso Mota, Jan Shongwe

We would like to congratulate the Department of Humanities and Education and its students on a job well done.